Port CEO Dreyer cleared by DA’s office, says he plans to leave

Port of Houston Authority CEO Alec Dreyer, accused earlier this year of misusing the port’s boat for a friend’s party and then altering records to conceal the event, has been cleared of wrongdoing by the Harris County District Attorney’s office.

Dreyer invited prosecutors to investigate in May, hoping to clear his name. In a statement issued Monday night, he applauded the district attorney’s “thorough and fair investigation.” Dreyer also said he would not seek reappointment to the post he has held since September 2009.

The trip Dreyer hosted aboard the port’s vessel on April 27, 2009, was requested, approved and paid for in keeping with Port policies, said Bill Moore, chief of the public integrity division in the district attorney’s office.

Moore, in a letter issued last Friday, also said the allegations that Dreyer had tampered with government records were false.

“We found that the spread sheets alleged to be improperly altered were internal documents used by Mr. Dreyer to monitor the use of the vessel,” Moore wrote. “The various changes merely reflected corrections, updates and differing formats.”

Dreyer’s attorney, Steven J. Mitby, said his understanding is that the type of letter Moore issued Friday is “virtually unprecedented” in Harris County.

“I came to the Port of Houston to apply my business experience in public service. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished,” Dreyer said, noting the port’s preparations for growth with the widening of the Panama Canal. “This experience, however, has shown me that the political arena is not where I want to be.”

Dreyer said he will serve until his replacement is found, adding he plans to return to the business world. The port’s first CEO to come from outside the maritime industry, according to a port press release, Dreyer previously was CEO of Horizon Wind Energy LLC, a Houston-based wind energy developer, and vice president of Dynegy Inc.

“I am delighted that, because of the district attorney’s thorough and fair investigation, the public now knows that Mr. Dreyer has been vindicated and the false allegations against Mr. Dreyer have been put to rest,” Mitby said in a statement.

The Port Commission is holding its regularly scheduled monthly meeting this morning. Among the items on its agenda is a scheduled discussion, to take place in closed session, on reimbursing Dreyer — as stipulated in his contract &mdaash; for the legal fees he incurred as part of the district attorney’s investigation.